Image pickup apparatus having lens barrel

ABSTRACT

An image pickup apparatus includes a lens barrel. The lens barrel is configured to move first and second optical units in an optical axis direction for zooming. The lens barrel includes a linear movement cylinder that includes a key configured to guide the first optical unit, a rotation cylinder that includes an outer circumferential cam and an inner circumferential cam, the rotation cylinder being configured to rotate around an optical axis so as to move the first optical unit in the optical axis direction through the outer circumferential cam and so as to move the second optical unit in the optical axis direction through the inner circumferential cam, and a guide bar held by the linear movement cylinder and configured to guide the second optical unit in the optical axis direction.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/881,568 filed Sep. 14, 2010, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus that includes a multistage retractable lens barrel.

2. Description of the Related Art

An image pickup apparatus, such as a digital still camera and a video camera, needs a high magnification of an image pickup lens and a miniaturization of a lens barrel configured to house the image pickup lens is required.

However, along with the high magnification of the image pickup lens, the number of optical units, such as a lens unit of the image pickup lens, and a moving amount of the optical unit are likely to increase and the sensitivity to the decentering or inclination of each optical unit becomes higher. As a result, it becomes difficult to miniaturize the lens barrel.

Japanese Patent No. 3898827 discloses a retractable lens barrel configured to guide the optical unit in the optical axis direction using a cantilever guide bar. In the lens barrel of Japanese Patent No. 3898827, one end is fixed onto the lens holder, and the other end guides the optical unit in the optical axis direction using a sliding guide bar that is supported by a holder of a fixture cylinder slidably in the optical axis direction. This lens barrel can increase the absolute position accuracy of each optical unit relative to the optical axis of the image pickup lens and the relative position accuracy between the optical units.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-350702 discloses a retractable lens barrel configured to support both ends of a guide bar inside of the first lens holder cylinder and to guide a second movement lens frame using the guide bar.

However, as a movement amount of each optical unit and an interval between the optical units increase along with the high magnification of the image pickup lens, a span of the guide bar increases and the lens barrel become large in a movement guide of the optical unit using the guide bar as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3898827 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-350702. When a long cantilever guide bar disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3898827 is used, the optical unit guided by the guide bar is likely to decenter. In addition, in order to secure the rigidity of the cantilever guide bar, it is necessary to make large the support configured to cantilever the guide bar and to increase a diameter of the guide bar itself, causing a large size of the lens barrel. Moreover, when the sliding guide bar is used, the number of components used to hold the guide bar increases, the sliding guide bar and the optical unit guided by the sliding guide bar may incline due to scattering manufacturing errors of the components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an image pickup apparatus having a small (multistage retractable) zoom lens barrel that can avoid the decentering and inclinations of each optical unit even when a movement amount of each optical unit is large and an interval between the optical units is large.

An image pickup apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a lens barrel. The lens barrel includes a first optical unit and a second optical unit, and the lens barrel being configured to move each of the first optical unit and the second optical unit in an optical axis direction for zooming, a linear movement cylinder configured to move in an optical axis direction, the linear movement cylinder including a key configured to guide the first optical unit, a rotation cylinder that includes an outer circumferential cam on an outer circumferential surface and an inner circumferential cam on an inner circumferential surface, the rotation cylinder being configured to move in the optical axis direction with the linear movement cylinder, the rotation cylinder being further configured to rotate around an optical axis so as to move the first optical unit in the optical axis direction through the outer circumferential cam and so as to move the second optical unit in the optical axis direction through the inner circumferential cam, and a guide bar held by the linear movement cylinder and configured to guide the second optical unit in the optical axis direction.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a lens barrel of an image pickup apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a retraction state of the lens barrel according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the lens barrel in a wide-angle end state according to this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the lens barrel in a telephoto end state according to this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a linear movement guidance cylinder and a driving cam ring of the linear cylinder according to this embodiment.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are perspective views of a second holder frame, a stop/shutter unit, a shift unit, and a fourth holder frame of the lens barrel according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a developed view that illustrates an outer circumferential surface of the driving cam ring of the lens barrel according to this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a developed view that illustrates an inner circumferential surface of the driving cam ring of the lens barrel according to this embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a developed view that illustrates an inner circumferential surface of the driving cam ring of the lens barrel according to this embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a lens barrel according to this embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a linear movement guidance cylinder and driving cam ring of the lens barrel in the image pickup apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, a description will be given of an embodiment according to the present invention.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded multistage (two-stage) retractable lens barrel for a digital still camera (image pickup apparatus) according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 illustrate sections of a retraction state, a wide-angle end state, and a telephoto end state of the lens barrel, respectively. In FIGS. 2 and 3, reference numeral 100 denotes a camera body (image pickup apparatus body), and reference numeral 101 denotes an image pickup device configured to photoelectrically convert an object image formed by an image pickup optical system in the lens barrel.

In FIG. 1, L1 denotes a first lens unit, and L2 denotes a second lens unit. L3 denotes a third lens unit that serves as an image stabilization optical system configured to shift in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis and for an image stabilization correction. L4 denotes a fourth lens unit, and L5 denotes a fifth lens unit configured to move in the optical axis direction for focusing. The first lens unit L1 to the fifth lens unit L5, and a stop/shutter unit, which will be described later, constitute the image pickup optical system.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a first lens barrel configured to hold the first lens unit L1. Reference numeral 2 denotes a second holder frame configured to hold the second lens unit L2. Reference numeral 3 denotes a shift unit configured to shift the third lens unit L3 in the plane orthogonal to the optical axis. Reference numeral 4 denotes a fourth holder frame configured to hold the fourth lens unit L4. Reference numeral 5 denotes a fifth holder frame configured to holder the fifth lens unit L5.

The first barrel 1 that holds the first lens unit L1 is also referred to as a first optical unit. Each of the second barrel 2 that holds the second lens unit L2, the stop/shutter unit 6, the shift unit 3, and the fourth holder frame 4 that holds the fourth lens unit L4 will be referred to as a second optical unit.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a stop/shutter unit configured to adjust a light quantity. Reference numeral 11 denotes an image pickup device holder to which the image pickup device 101, such as a CCD sensor and a CMOS sensor, and a zoom motor unit 17 are attached.

Reference numerals 8 a and 8 b are guide bars as a rod-shaped guide member configured to guide the fifth holder frame 5 in the optical axis direction. A sleeve provided to the fifth holder frame 5 is engaged with the guide bar 8 a movably in the optical axis direction, and a U-shaped groove formed in the fifth holder frame is engaged with the guide bar 8 b movably in the optical axis direction. Since the U-shaped groove is engaged with the guide bar 8 b, a rotation of the fifth holder frame 5 around the guide bar 8 a is prohibited.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a focus motor as a driving source configured to move the fifth holder frame 5 in the optical axis direction. A lead screw is formed onto the output shaft of the focus motor 27, and a rack 5 a attached to the fifth holder frame 5 is engaged with the lead screw. Thereby, a rotation of the lead screw is converted into a linear movement of the fifth holder frame 5.

Reference numeral 35 denotes a photo-interrupter configured to detect an initial position of the fifth holder frame 5. When a light shield formed on the fifth holder frame 5 is inserted into a space between a light emitter and a light receiver of the photo-interrupter 35, a movement of the fifth holder frame 5 to the initial position is detected.

Reference numeral 13 is a back barrel fixed onto the image pickup device holder 11, onto which the focus motor 27 and the photo-interrupter 35 are screwed. The image pickup device holder 11 supports one end of each of the guide bars 8 a and 8 b.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a fixture cam ring (fixture cylinder or first cam cylinder) fixed onto the image pickup device holder 11 via a plurality of screws. Reference numeral 7 denotes a driving cam ring (rotational cylinder or second cam cylinder), which can rotate around the optical axis and move in the optical axis direction. A plurality of cam grooves (fixture cams) 15 a are formed in the inner circumference surface of a surrounding wall of the fixture cam ring 15 and configured to move the driving cam ring 7 in the optical axis direction. Although this embodiment provides three cam grooves 15 a, four or more cam grooves may be provided.

These three cam grooves 15 a mutually have the same shape (locus), as illustrated in FIG. 9. In addition, a cam pin insertion opening 15 c configured to introduce three cam pins (cam followers) 7 b provided to the driving cam ring 7 into the cam groove 15 a is formed at the back end of the surrounding wall of the fixture cam ring 15.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, an output gear 17 a of the zoom motor unit 17 is engaged with a spur gear 16 and transmits a rotation to the spur gear 16. The spur gear 16 is engaged with a movement gear 19 engaged with a cam gear 7 a formed on the driving cam ring 7 and transmits a rotation to the movement gear 19. Thereby, the driving cam ring 7 rotates around the optical axis.

As the driving cam ring 7 rotates, the driving cam ring 7 whose cam pins 7 b are engaged with the cam grooves 15 a of the fixture cam ring 15 moves in the optical axis direction in order of and in reverse order of the retraction position, the wide-angle end position, and the telephoto end position. The retraction position is an accommodation position in which the driving cam ring 7 is housed in the fixture cam ring 15 (or the camera body 100). The wide-angle end position is an image pickup standby position at which the driving cam ring 7 projects from the fixture cam ring 15 (camera body 100) so as to wait for image pickup (zooming) after the camera is powered on.

The driving cam ring 7 is rotatably supported around the optical axis on the outer circumferential surface of the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 that is as a linear movement cylinder. A movement of the driving cam ring 7 in the optical axis direction relative to the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 is prohibited by a key ring 12 attached to the front end of the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 (part on the object side) and a flange formed on the back end of the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 (part on the image plane side). A bar holder 10 is fixed on the back end of the linear movement guidance cylinder 9.

The linear movement guidance cylinder 9, the driving cam ring 7, the key ring 12, and the bar holder 10 constitute a movement cylinder (movement cylinder unit) configured to move as a whole in the optical axis direction along with a rotation of the driving cam ring 7 (cam pins 7 b) around the optical axis.

Three linear movement keys 10 a each of which serves as a supported member are provided on the bar holder 10 at regular intervals of 120° in the circumferential direction. These linear movement keys 10 a are engaged with three linear movement grooves 15 b movable in the optical axis direction each of which serves as a supporting member, and these three linear movement grooves 15 b are formed in the inner circumferential surface of the fixture cam ring 15 at regular intervals of 120° in the circumferential direction. Due to the engagements between the linear movement keys 10 a and the linear movement grooves 15 b, radial positions of the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 and the driving cam ring 7 are determined so that the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 and the driving cam ring 7 cannot decenter from the optical axis.

The movement gear 19 is attached to a movement gear holder plate 20 relative to the bar holder 10. While the driving cam ring 7 is being rotated, the driving cam ring 7 is moved with the linear movement guidance cylinder 9, the bar holder 10, the key ring 12, and the driving gear 19 to a position in the optical axis direction determined by the cam groove 15 a. The movement gear 19 is engaged with the spur gear 16 whenever the lens barrel is retracted and projected, and the spur gear 16 is long enough to maintain this engagement in the optical axis direction.

The spur gear 16 rotates at a constant position around a spur gear shaft 18 held by the fixture cam ring 15 and the image pickup device holder 11. A zoom motor unit 17 is fixed onto the image pickup device holder 11 by a plurality of screws. A zooming initial position is detected when a light shield (not illustrated) on the driving cam ring 7 is inserted into a space between a light emitter and a light receiver of a photo-interrupter 26 fixed onto the image pickup device holder 11.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, six cam grooves (outer circumferential cams) 21 for the first barrel 1 are formed at regular intervals of 60° in the circumferential direction on an outer circumferential surface of the surrounding wall of the driving cam ring 7. Three of six cam grooves 21 are used to move the first barrel 1 in the optical axis direction (as will be described later). While six cam grooves 21 are merely illustrative, and the number of cam grooves 21 is not limited.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, cam grooves (inner circumferential cams) 22, 23, 24, and 25 configured to move the second holder frame 2, the stop/shutter unit 6, and the shift unit 3, and the fourth holder frame 4 in the optical axis direction are provided one each on the inner circumferential surface of the surrounding wall of the driving cam ring 7. Although the cam grooves 22, 23, 24, and 25 are provided one each for illustrative purposes, the number of cam grooves is not limited.

The cam grooves 15 a formed on the fixture cam ring 15 are engaged with the cam pins 7 b of the driving cam ring 7, as described above. The driving cam ring 7 is moved relative to the fixture cam ring 15 in the optical axis direction while the driving cam ring 7 is rotated around the optical axis, and the first barrel 1, the second holder frame 2, the stop/shutter unit 6, the shift unit 3, and the fourth holder frame 4 are moved in the optical axis direction relative to each other as the driving cam ring 7 rotates around the optical axis. Thereby, magnification variation (zooming) is performed between the wide-angle end state illustrated in FIG. 3 and the telephoto end state illustrated in FIG. 4, and the lens barrel can be displaced from the wide-angle end state to the retraction state illustrated in FIG. 2.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, a movement-gear groove 15 d is formed in order to maintain a movement space of the movement gear 19 configured to move in the optical axis direction with the driving cam ring 7 from the front end to the intermediate position of the fixture cam ring 15.

Referring now to FIGS. 5, 6A and 6B, a description will be given of support structures of the second holder frame 2, the stop/shutter unit 6, the shift unit 3, and the fourth holder frame 4.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, bar receivers 9 a to 9 d are formed near the front end of the linear movement guidance cylinder 9, and these bar receivers 9 a to 9 d hold one ends of guide bars 14 a to 14 d that are rod-shaped guide members. In addition, bar receivers 10 b to 10 e are also formed on the bar holder 10, and these bar receivers 10 b to 10 e hold the other ends of the guide bars 14 a to 14 d.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6A to 6B, a sleeve 2 c of the second holder frame 2 is engaged with the guide bar 14 d, and a U-shaped groove 2 b is engaged with the guide bar 14 b movably in the optical axis direction. A sleeve 6 c of the stop/shutter unit 6 is engaged with the guide bar 14 b, and a U-shaped groove 6 b is engaged with the guide bar 14 d movable in the optical axis direction. Thus, in the embodiment, the second holder frame 2 and the stop/shutter unit 6 that contact each other invert the guide bars engaged with the sleeves 2 c and 6 c.

In addition, a sleeve 3 c of the shift unit 3 is engaged with the guide bar 14 c and a U-shaped groove (not illustrated) is engaged with the guide bar 14 a movable in the optical axis direction. A sleeve 4 c of the fourth holder frame 4 is engaged with the guide bar 14 a, and a U-shaped groove 4 b is engaged with the guide bar 14 c movable in the optical axis direction. Thus, the shift unit 3 and the fourth holder frame 4 invert the guide bars engaged with the sleeves 3 c and 4 c.

A cam pin 2 a that serves as a cam follower is provided onto the second holder frame 2 near the sleeve 2 c. A cam pin 6 a is provided onto the stop/shutter unit 6 near the sleeve 6 c. A cam pin 3 a is provided onto the shift unit 3 near the sleeve 3 c. A cam pin 4 a is provided near the sleeve 4 c in the fourth holder sleeve 4.

These cam pins 2 a, 3 a, 6 a, and 4 a perforate four linear movement grooves 9 e that are formed on the surrounding wall of the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 and extend in the optical axis direction. These cam pins are engaged with the second-holder-frame cam groove 22, the stop/shutter-unit cam groove 23, the shift-unit cam groove 24, and the fourth-holder-frame cam groove 25 illustrated in FIG. 8. Thereby, as the driving cam ring 7 rotates around the optical axis (around the linear movement guidance cylinder 9), the second holder frame 2, the stop/shutter unit 6, the shift unit 3, and the fourth holder frame 4 are driven in the optical axis direction through lifting of the cam grooves 23 to 25.

This embodiment describes the four guide bars 14 a to 14 d configured to guide the four second optical units, such as the second holder frame 2, the stop/shutter unit 6, the shift unit 3, and the fourth holder frame 4, in the optical axis direction. However, it is unnecessary to provide four guide bars configured to guide these four second optical units in the optical axis direction, and three or fewer guide bars may be provided. For example, the sleeve 2 c of the second holder frame 2 and the sleeve 4 c of the fourth holder frame 4 may be engaged with the same guide bar.

A description will now be given of the support structure of the first barrel 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1, three keys 12 a are formed in the circumferential direction (at regular intervals of 120°) on the outer circumference of the key ring 12 fixed onto the front end of the linear movement guidance cylinder 9. These three keys 12 a are engaged with three linear movement groove (not illustrated) formed in the circumferential direction on the inner circumference surface of the surrounding wall of the first barrel 1, and guide the first barrel 1 in the optical axis direction while its radial position is determined so that the first barrel 1 cannot decenter from the optical axis.

Each of the key ring 12 and the bar holder 10 is a separate member from the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 but fixed integrally with the linear movement guidance cylinder 9. Therefore, the key 12 a and the bar receivers 10 b to 10 e can be considered to be provided to the linear movement guidance cylinder 9, and the guide bars 14 a to 14 d may be considered to be held by the linear movement guidance cylinder 9.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, six cam pins la each of which serves as a cam follower is provided on the back end on the inner circumferential surface of the first barrel 1 in the circumferential direction (at regular intervals of 60°), and each cam pin 1 a is engaged with each cam groove 21 formed on the outer circumferential surface of the driving cam ring 7, as described above. Thereby, when the driving cam ring 7 is rotated around the linear movement guidance cylinder 9, the first barrel 1 is moved in the optical axis direction by the lifter of the cam groove 21.

The positions of the first barrel 1, the second holder frame 2, the stop/shutter unit 6, the shift unit 3, and the fourth holder frame 4 in the optical axis direction are determined by a composition of a driving amount of the driving cam ring 7 caused by the cam groove 15 a of the fixture cam ring 15 and the driving amounts of the cam grooves 21 to 25 of the driving cam ring 7.

The cam pins 1 a, 2 a, 6 a, and 4 a may be formed integrally with the first barrel 1, the second holder frame 2, the stop/shutter unit 6, and the fourth holder frame 4 or formed separately from them and fixed through press fitting or adhesions. However, in this embodiment, as described later, the cam pin 3 a needs to be manufactured as a separate member from the shift unit 3.

In this embodiment, a distance between the first lens unit L1 and the second lens unit L2 in the optical axis direction in the telephoto end state is larger than that in the wide-angle end state, and the first barrel 1 configured to hold the first lens unit L1 project ahead of the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 and the driving cam ring 7. Therefore, for example, a very long guide bar is required for the structure in which the guide bar held on the first barrel 1 supports the second holder 2.

Hence, in this embodiment, the first barrel 1 is guided in the optical axis direction by an engagement between the key 12 a provided on the outer circumferential front end (key ring 12) of the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 and the linear movement groove formed on the inner circumferential surface of the first barrel 1. The other four optical units 2, 6, 3, and 4 are guided in the optical axis direction by the guide bars 14 a to 14 d held inside of the linear movement guidance cylinder 9. This configuration can avoid a large size of the lens barrel associated with use of a long guide bar and a degradation of the optical performance caused by the decentering and inclinations of the first barrel 1 and/or the second holder frame 2.

In this embodiment, decentering and inclinations between the first barrel 1 and the other four optical units 2, 6, 3, and 4 need to be effectively prevented (or it is necessary to reduce the decentering and the inclination down to a level within a permissible range). Thus, the first barrel 1 includes a decentering/inclination adjustment mechanism (not illustrated) for this purpose.

In addition, the four second optical units 2, 6, 3, and 4 supported by the guide bars 14 a to 14 d also need high precision for decentering and inclination, but only a few or only two components configured to support the guide bars 14 a to 14 d in this embodiment, such as the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 and the bar holder 10. Therefore, the four second optical units 2, 6, 3, and 4 can be supported movable in the optical axis direction while the decentering and inclinations can be effectively reduced.

This embodiment describes the guide bars 14 a to 14 d held by the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 and the bar holder 10 fixed onto the linear movement guidance cylinder 9. Alternatively, the part corresponding to the bar holder 10 may be integrally formed on the linear movement guidance cylinder, and the guide bars 14 a to 14 d may be held only by the linear movement guidance cylinder.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a description will be given of the cam grooves 22, 23, 24, and 25 for the second holder frame, the stop/shutter unit, the shift unit, and the fourth holder frame. In FIG. 8, the lower side corresponds to the image side (backside) and the upper side corresponds to the object side (front side).

As described above, the second-holder-frame cam groove 22, the stop/shutter-unit cam groove 23, the shift-unit cam groove 24, and the fourth holder frame cam groove 25 are formed one each on the inner circumferential surface of the driving cam ring 7. Each cam groove has a shape (locus) configured to move the corresponding optical unit in the optical direction in order of and in reverse order of the retraction position, the wide-angle end position, and the telephoto end position.

The cam pin insertion openings 22 a, 23 a, and 25 a are formed at the back end of the surrounding wall of the driving cam ring 7 so as to introduce the cam pins 2 a, 6 a, and 4 a to the second-holder-frame cam groove 22, the stop/shutter-unit cam groove 23, and the fourth holder frame cam groove 25. The cam pin insertion openings 22 a, 23 a, and 25 a are connected to the telephoto end side of the cam grooves 22, 23, and 25 (opposite to the retraction position side).

The cam pin insertion opening 24 a is formed and serves as a perforation hole used to introduce the cam pin 3 a of the shift unit 3 into the shift-unit cam groove 24 so that it can perforate the surrounding wall of the driving cam ring 7. The cam pin insertion opening 24 a is connected to the retraction position side of the cam groove 24 (opposite to the telephoto end position). After the shift unit 3 is assembled into the driving cam ring 7, the cam pin 3 a is fixed onto the shift unit 3 and introduced into the cam groove 24 by press-fitting the cam pin 3 a into a hole formed in the shift unit 3 through the cam pin insertion opening 24 a.

The retraction position, the wide-angle end position, and the telephoto end position of the cam grooves 22, 23, 24, and 25 are formed in the circumferential direction so that their phases can shift by 45° corresponding to regular intervals of 45° of the cam pins 2 a, 6 a, 3 a, and 4 a in the circumferential direction.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a description will be given of the first-barrel cam groove 21. In FIG. 7, the lower side corresponds to the image plane side (backside) and the upper side corresponds to the subject side (front side).

As described above, six first-barrel cam grooves 21 are formed on the outer circumferential surface of the driving cam ring 7, and engaged with six cam pins la provided on the first barrel 1.

However, three driving cam grooves out of these six cam grooves 21 are arranged at intervals of 120° and used to move the first barrel 1 in the optical axis direction in order of and in reverse order of the retraction position, the wide-angle end position, and the telephoto end position. The other three cam grooves 21 are impact-resistant cam grooves used to maintain the impact-resistance and an engagement between the cam pin 1 a and the driving cam groove when the first barrel 1 receives an impact in the image plane direction, etc. The impact-resistant cam groove is formed at a predetermined clearance with the cam pin 1 a at the normal operation time. The driving cam groove has a shape (locus) in order to move the first barrel 1 in the optical axis direction in order of and in reverse order of the retraction position, the wide-angle end position, and the telephoto end position.

The cam pin 1 a provided to the first barrel 1 is introduced into the cam groove 21 through the cam pin insertion opening 21 a formed in a front end surface of the driving cam ring 7. The cam pin insertion opening 21 a is connected to the cam groove 21 on the telephoto end position side (opposite to the retraction position side).

In the fixture cam ring 15 illustrated in FIG. 9, the movement-gear groove 15 d is formed so that the movement-gear groove 15 d passes a space between the retraction position and the wide-angle end position in one of three cam grooves 15 a and extends in the optical axis direction. The part in the one cam groove 15 a through which the movement-gear groove 15 d passes is an imperfect area that as a non-engagement area in which the cam pin 7 b is not engaged in this cam groove member 15 a. In this imperfect area, the cam pin 7 b of the driving cam ring 7 slips off from the cam groove 15 a. When the cam pin 7 b is slipping off, a support of the driving cam ring 7 may become temporarily unstable because the driving cam ring 7 is supported relative to the fixture cam ring 15 only by the engagements between the two cam pins 7 b and the other two cam grooves 15 a.

However, according to this embodiment, the engagement between the linear movement key (supported member) 10 a formed on the bar holder 10 and the linear movement groove (supporting member) 15 b formed on the inner circumferential surface of the fixture cam ring 15 determines a radial position of the back end of the driving cam ring 7 (or movement cylinder).

In addition, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, between the retraction state and the wide-angle end state, the fixture cam ring 15 supports the outer circumferential surface of the first barrel 1 via flocked paper 51 that serves as an elastic member and is adhered near the front end on the inner surface. As described above, the key 12 a of the key ring 12 fixed onto the front end of the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 is engaged with the linear movement groove formed on the inner circumference surface of the first barrel 1. Therefore, the support of the first barrel 1 by the flocked paper 51 corresponds to the support of the front end of the driving cam ring 7 (part in front of the linear movement key 10 a). Thereby, a radial position of the front end can be determined by the driving cam ring 7 (or movement cylinder).

Since the back end side of the driving cam ring 7 and the portion closer to the front end side are thus supported in the radial direction, the inclination of the driving cam ring 7 can be restrained when the cam pin 7 b is slipping off. Since the imperfect area of the cam groove 15 a is located between the retraction position and the wide-angle end position in this embodiment, the image pickup is not affected between the wide-angle end state and the telephoto end state even when the slight inclination of the driving cam ring 7 occurs due to an elastic deformation of the flocked paper 51.

The flocked paper 51 is arranged on three areas in the circumferential direction on the inner circumferential direction of the fixture cam ring 15. The outer circumferential surface of the first barrel 1 as an exterior of the camera is slid relative to the flocked paper 51. The outer circumferential surface of the first barrel 1 may be protected from this sliding by using a highly elastic material for the first barrel 1.

Second Embodiment

Referring now to FIG. 11, a description will be given of a holding method of the guide bars 14 a to 14 d different from a holding method of the first embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, the key ring 12 that serves as a second bar holder has bar receivers 12 b to 12 e, and these bar receivers 12 b to 12 e hold one ends of the guide bars 14 a to 14 d as rod-shaped guide members. In addition, the bar holder 10 that serves as a first bar holder has bar receivers 10 b to 10 e, and these bar receivers 10 b to 10 e hold the other ends of the guide bars 14 a to 14 d.

Each of the key ring 12 and the bar holder 10 is a separate member from the linear movement guidance cylinder 9 but fixed integrally with the linear movement guidance cylinder 9. Therefore, the key 12 a and the bar receivers 10 b to 10 e, 12 b to 12 e can be considered to be provided to the linear movement guidance cylinder 9, and the guide bars 14 a to 14 d may be considered to be held by the linear movement guidance cylinder 9.

This embodiment can provide an image pickup apparatus that has a small zoom lens barrel that can restrain inclination and decentering of the optical unit.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-216688, filed Sep. 18, 2009 which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A lens barrel comprising: a first optical unit and a second optical unit, and the lens barrel being configured to move each of the first optical unit and the second optical unit in an optical axis direction for zooming; a linear movement cylinder configured to move in an optical axis direction, the linear movement cylinder including a key configured to guide the first optical unit; a rotation cylinder that includes an outer circumferential cam on an outer circumferential surface and an inner circumferential cam on an inner circumferential surface, the rotation cylinder being configured to move in the optical axis direction with the linear movement cylinder, the rotation cylinder being further configured to rotate around an optical axis so as to move the first optical unit in the optical axis direction through the outer circumferential cam and so as to move the second optical unit in the optical axis direction through the inner circumferential cam; and a guide bar held by the linear movement cylinder and configured to guide the second optical unit in the optical axis direction.
 2. The lens barrel according to claim 1, further comprising a bar holder fixed onto the linear movement cylinder, and wherein one end of the guide bar is held by the linear movement cylinder and the other end of the guide bar is held by the bar holder.
 3. The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein the linear movement cylinder includes a first bar holder and a second bar holder, and wherein one end of the guide bar is held by the first bar holder and the other end of the guide bar is held by the second bar holder.
 4. The lens barrel according to claim 1, further comprising: an image pickup element holder, and a fixture cylinder fixed onto the image pickup element holder, the fixture cylinder including a fixture cam, wherein the linear movement cylinder and the rotation cylinder are moved together in the optical axis direction as the rotation cylinder rotates so as to be driven in the optical axis direction by the fixture cam of the fixture cylinder.
 5. A lens barrel comprising: a first optical unit and a plurality of second optical units, and the lens barrel being configured to move each of the first optical unit and the plurality of second optical units in an optical axis direction for zooming; a linear movement cylinder configured to move in an optical axis direction, the linear movement cylinder including a key configured to guide the first optical unit and a plurality of linear movement grooves that extend in the optical axis direction; a rotation cylinder that includes an outer circumferential cam on an outer circumferential surface and a plurality of inner circumferential cams on an inner circumferential surface, the rotation cylinder being configured to move in the optical axis direction with the linear movement cylinder, the rotation cylinder being further configured to rotate around an optical axis so as to move the first optical unit in the optical axis direction through the outer circumferential cam and so as to move the second optical unit in the optical axis direction through the inner circumferential cam; and a guide bar held by the linear movement cylinder and configured to guide the plurality of second optical units in the optical axis direction, wherein each of the plurality of second optical units has a cam follower, and each cam follower perforates one of the plurality of linear movement grooves formed on the linear movement cylinder and engages with one of the plurality of inner circumferential cams formed on the rotation cylinder. 